Own a piece of Disney's magic

Honolulu-area resort a five-star family home away from home

The view from one of Aulani Resort's 10th-floor grand villas, which are 2,150 square feet and have room for 13 people.

Photograph by: Steve Macnaull
, Edmonton Journal

For years the owners of time shares at Disney hotels have been clamouring for a Hawaiian option.

That call was answered this fall as Disney opened Aulani Resort just west of Honolulu - a hybrid hotel and time share property that sits pretty, right on the Pacific Ocean.

"Hawaii is just one of those places that is so popular with vacationing families," Disney Parks & Resorts chairman Tom Staggs tells me at the recent grand opening for the property.

"Hawaii was definitely the No. 1 request we had through the Disney Vacation Club."

Since selling started last year, Canadians - mostly Albertans and British Columbians who love to vacation in Hawaii and have easy air connections to the tropical state - have become the No. 4 market for Aulani time shares.

Hawaiians who want a vacation property that's close are No. 1, followed by Californians and Japanese, who also favour the islands as a holiday getaway with good air access.

By the way, the company doesn't like to call its fractional ownership units time shares, thus the branded Disney Vacation Club.

Aulani has seamlessly combined 359 hotel rooms and 480 two-bedroom equivalent time share units into a resort comprised of nine towers that tier down in a U-shape around the courtyard and pool complex to the beach and ocean.

The appeal of owning weeks at Aulani is Disney quality and service in Hawaii in a resort setting, according to Disney Vacation Club guide Andrea Malone.

As such, time share guest have the same privileges as hotel guests.

That's important because Aulani truly is a five-star resort and all guest have access to the spectacular pools, beaches and ocean; restaurants and bars; fully-supervised children's' club called Aunty's Beach House; Laniwai Spa; 24-hour front desk, room service and concierge; and activities that range from hula dance lessons and lai making to feeding stingrays, snorkelling in Rainbow Reef and standup paddle boarding in the lagoon.

The tour Malone takes me on encompasses all the time share options from the entry-level studio suite to the extravagant grand villa.

"Our most popular package is the $19,200 (all funds in U.S. currency) option that gives a family 160 points to use a year," she explains.

"That's enough for about eight or nine nights annually in one of our studio suites with a mountain view in the off season."

The annual dues on the $19,200 package are $916.80.

"With that math, we tell people the unit pays for itself after just five to seven years of vacations," says Malone.

"From then on they have 46 years of vacations for only the annual dues because the unit is theirs' for 51 years."

Disney Vacation Club goes with the points system rather than the standard time share one or two weeks a year to give owners flexibility.

For instance, those same 160 points can be used blow out style for a single high season night - like New Year's Eve - in a three-bedroom grand villa. If you buy at Aulani, the resort will always be considered your Disney Vacation Club home and thus you get priority booking.

However, you can also use your points for other Disney hotels, on Disney Cruise Line, or at one of the over 500 time share properties that Disney Vacation Club is affiliated with through RCI (Resort Condominiums International), which is the world's largest time share vacation exchange program.

All Aulani time share units are what's called contemporary Hawaiian, which means dark woods and tropical print carpets and fabrics.

While owned and operated by Disney, the resort and its rooms are not theme park-ish or filled with Disney characters.

In fact, the only nod to Disney in the time shares is a single lamp with a retro Mickey Mouse holding a surfboard.

Studio suites are 356 square feet and include a kitchenette and bedroom with king-sized bed, pullout couch that sleeps two and a pack and play crib.

There is a lanai (small balcony or patio), but no washer and dryer.

One bedroom suites come in at 756 square feet with a full kitchen and washer and dryer and sleeps five or six with a king bedroom with ensuite, living room with queen and single pullouts and a pack away crib. Two bedroom units are 1,200 square feet and sleep nine.

The grand villas are a whopping 2,150 square feet and sleep up to 13 and feature gourmet kitchens, formal dining rooms, entertaining living rooms and lanais that stretch a length of 50 feet offering courtyard, pool, beach and ocean views.

Disney Vacation Club has 11 other Disney time share hotels at its theme parks in California, Florida, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong and stand alone time share properties in Vero Beach Florida and Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Some of the over 500 options through RCI include Beach Palace in Cancun, The Manhattan Club in New York City, Crane Beach Resort in Barbados, Palazzo del Giglio in Venice, Royal Garden Hotel in London, England, The Peninsula in Cape Town, South Africa and Bellbrae Country Club in Australia.

For those who don't buy a Disney Vacation Club time share, Aulani overnight rates start at $399 for a studio suite.

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